Australia
01. Bob Simpson
02. Bill Lawry
03. Don Bradman*
04. Greg Chappell
05. Keith Miller
06. Allan Border
07. Adam Gilchrist+
08. Ray Lindwall
09. Shane Warne
10. Dennis Lillee
11. Bill O’Reilly
Comments
Bill Lawry just edges out Victor Trumper as he has a proven technique and temperament against genuine fast bowling. It is not clear how Victor Trumper would cope with a new ball attack of Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding, or Alan Donald and Neil Adcock. Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry also have a wonderful record as opening partners, and are second only to Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe.
Allan Border’s role at No.6 is to consolidate the innings and protect the tail. This allows Keith Miller to act as a ‘pinch hitter’ and therefore accelerate the innings. A slightly weaker middle-order, but stronger bowling attack, is justified because the batting skills of Adam Gilchrist make-up the deficit.
The most difficult choices were leaving out Glenn McGrath and Alan Davidson for Dennis Lillee and Ray Lindwall. However, there is little need for two ‘corridor’ bowlers so Dennis Lillee takes the new ball with Ray Lindwall who is almost equivalent to Alan Davidson in batting. Both these fast bowlers are superior to Alan Davidson in bowling.
England
01. Jack Hobbs
02. Len Hutton
03. Walter Hammond
04. Dennis Compton
05. Maurice Leyland
06. Peter May*
07. Alan Knott+
08. Hedley Verity
09. John Snow
10. Fred Trueman
11. Sydney Barnes
Comments
It was tempting to play Len Hutton at No.5 because he nominated himself to bat in that position while drafting his own ATG England team in 1977. However, Len Hutton deservedly gets his preferred No.2 spot over Herbert Sutcliffe because of his record against Lindwall and Miller. Hammond, Compton, Leyland, and May are expert middle-order batsman and I can’t imagine that either Herbert Sutcliffe or Len Hutton would be a significant improvement on any of them if played out of position in a real Test match. Leyland is an unusual choice but remains one of England’s best players of spin bowling. He is famed for his skill and ease when batting against Bill O’Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett.
Ian Botham is omitted because he is not good enough to bat at No.6 and would subsequently leave the tail vulnerable. He is also inferior to John Snow, Fred Trueman, and Sydney Barnes in bowling. Harold Larwood is not selected because his only significant series coincided with atypical field placings. He makes way for John Snow who dominated more than one away series in their own right. His 27 wickets at 18.66 runs a piece against Garfield Sober’s team in the West Indies (1967-68), and his 31 wickets at 22.83 runs a piece against Bill Lawry’s side in Australia (1970-71) remain pivotal to English fast bowling lore.
There is very little difference between the skills of Jim Laker and Hedley Verity. However, Hedley Verity is more able to bat at No.8 and was revered by Bradman who admitted that he ‘did not have a breaking point’ like other great bowlers.
West Indies
01. Gordon Greenidge
02. Roy Fredericks
03. Viv Richards*
04. Brian Lara
05. George Headley
06. Garfield Sobers
07. Jeff Dujon+
08. Malcolm Marshall
09. Michael Holding
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Lance Gibbs
Comments
The first difficulty was deciding who to partner Gordon Greenidge in the opening spot. Roy ‘Kid Cement’ Fredericks gets the nod because he had the skill and audacity to counter-attack the fast bowlers of the 1970s.
The second difficulty was deciding between Curtly Ambrose and Andy Roberts. Curtly Ambrose is preferred because his brilliance kept the West Indian team great for far longer than they should have been.
Lastly, Jackie Hendricks is a brilliant wicket keeper, but neither he nor Malcolm Marshall are a natural No.7. Consequently the agile Jeff Dujon comes into the team because of his unblemished record that lasts a full decade. His batting average of 31.94 is suitably adequate.
South Africa
01. Barry Richards
02. Bruce Mitchell
03. Jacques Kallis
04. Graeme Pollock
05. Dudley Nourse*
06. Aubrey Faulkner
07. John Waite+
08. Mike Procter
09. Hugh Tayfield
10. Alan Donald
11. Neil Adcock
Comments
This team virtually picks itself with the only difficulty being the selection of Bruce Mitchell over Graeme Smith.
Because John Waite and Mike Procter follow Aubrey Faulkner the batting skills of Shaun Pollock are not required. Neil Adcock therefore comes into the team as he matches Alan Donald for pace, skill, and aggression.
India
01. Sunny Gavaskar
02. Virenda Sehwag
03. Rahul Dravid
04. Sachin Tendulkar
05. Vijay Hazare
06. Vinoo Mankad
07. Farouk Engineer+
08. Kapil Dev*
09. Javagal Srinath
10. Erapalli Prasanna
11. Bhagwath Chandrasekhar
Comments
Since India has a lack of quality fast bowlers there is little choice but to select attacking spinners such as Erapalli Prasanna and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar who are expensive but both capable of bowling an ‘unplayable ball’. There is little difference in skill between Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Subhash Gupte. It is significant that their Strike Rates in England , Australia, and the West Indies are similar or better than their Strike Rate in India. This is unusual for an Indian spinner and hence gives both bowlers an edge over other spinners such as Anil Kumble. However, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar gets the nod as it was his magnificent bowling in 1971 that gave India their first series win in England.
Pakistan
01. Saeed Anwar
02. Hanif Mohammad
03. Younis Khan
04. Javed Miandad
05. Inzamam ul-Haq
06. Mushtaq Mohammad
07. Imran Khan*
08. Wasim Bari+
09. Wasim Akram
10. Saqlain Mushtaq
11. Waqar Younis
Comments
Younis Khan gains the No.3 spot as he averages 50.81 in that position. Zaheer Abbas was a prime candidate but was not included because of his dismal record against pace bowling. In 15 innings against the West Indies he averaged only18.50. When facing Richard Hadlee’s New Zealand he averaged slightly worse, 17.83.
Saqlain Mushtaq was preferred over Abdul Qadir because of his better consistency. The off-spin of Saqlain Mushtaq also allows the inclusion of Mushtaq Mohammad who averaged 29.22 with his leg-spin.
The No.5 spot came down to a two way tussle between Inzamam ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. Inzamam ul-haq is included because of his slightly better record against fast bowling.
New Zealand
01. Glenn Turner
02. Stewie Dempster
03. Bert Sutcliffe
04. Martin Crowe
05. Martin Donnelly
06. John Reid*
07. Daniel Vettori
08. Richard Hadlee
09. Ian Smith+
10. Shane Bond
11. Jack Cowie
Comments
The selection of the New Zealand team was straight forward with the only consideration being whether Chris Cairns or Daniel Vettori should gain the No.7 spot. Daniel Vettori gives the attack balance and variety and is therefore included.
Sri Lanka
01. Sanath Jayasuriya
02. Marvan Atapattu
03. Kumar Sangakarra
04. Aravinda de Silva
05. Mahela Jayawardene*
06. Thilan Samareewa
07. Prasanna Jayawardene+
08. Chaminda Vaas
09. Ashantha de Mel
10. Rumesh Ratnayake
11. Muttiah Muralitharan
Comments
In order to win a Test match the skills of Kumar Sangakarra will need to be uninterrupted by wicket-keeping. The talented Prasanna Jayawardene therefore comes into the side. Ashantha de Mel is included because he is apparently the only Sri Lankan bowler of genuine pace and accuracy.Lasith Malinga was considered but offers no real benefit over Rumesh Ratnayake who gained good respect in the 1980s.